Thirty-three acre Atlanta History Center is fascinating and educational

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Thirty-three acre Atlanta History Center is fascinating and educational
December 24, 2009
Maggie FitzRoy
newsjacksonville.com

or several hours, the past was more real than the present.

I watched Civil War soldiers fight raging battles, guys in Union blue against guys in Confederate gray.

I read letters they wrote to loved ones describing the hunger, boredom and horrors of the 1861 to 1865 war, and witnessed their struggles with illness, injuries and death.

I saw the burning of Atlanta, read New York Times newspaper battle accounts that included casualty lists, and watched war widows weep.

I learned a lot about the Civil War last week at the Atlanta History Center when I was in the city with my family.

Located on 33 acres in historic Buckhead, the center is well worth a visit. If you go, plan to spend several hours there, or maybe an entire day, because there's lots to see.

The campus includes the Atlanta History Museum, which features several exhibitions including "Turning Point: The American Civil War," one of the largest Civil War exhibitions in the country.

It also houses the Centennial Olympic Games Museum, which celebrates the 1996 games held in Atlanta; the Tullie Smith Farm, featuring a typical Piedmont Georgia farm of the mid 1800s; the Swan House, an elegant mansion; six historic gardens; and the Kenan Research Center.

The history center also includes the home of "Gone With the Wind" author Margaret Mitchell, which is located at an off-site campus five miles away.

Professional docents lead tours of the Swan House and Tullie Smith Farm throughout the day, and we arranged to go on one of those first, then headed to the museum to see the Civil War exhibit.

Dressed in period costume in a long dress, cap and shawl, docent Kathleen Mainland greeted us. Constructed in nearby DeKalb County around 1840, the house and its outbuildings - including kitchen, barn, corncrib, dairy, smokehouse and cabin - were moved to the history center in the 1970s.

She told us about the upper-middle class family that lived there, then took us inside for a tour. We saw how the Smiths lived a simple, subsistence-based life off their 800 acres of land, 200 of which were farmed with the help of 11 slaves.

In contrast, the Swan House offers a glimpse into lives of wealthy post-Civil War Atlanta residents. Heir to a large fortune, the home's owner, Edward Inman, invested in real estate, transportation and banking . He and his wife, Emily, got architect Phillip Trammel Shutze to design their classical style home.

Edward Inman died of a heart attack shortly after, but Emily continued to live there with one of her sons and his family until 1965. The Atlanta Historical Society purchased the house, furnishings and 28-acre estate the following year, so almost all furniture - including the 18th century swan tables in the dining room for which the house was named - are original.

Once at the museum, we headed to the Civil War exhibit, which brings the years 1860 to 1865 to life through 1,400 artifacts, photos, dioramas and video presentations.

The war and events leading to it are explained in clear and dramatic terms to visitors, from the point of view of the North and the South. Rooms full of displays are devoted to each year of the conflict.

A poignant display near the exhibit's entrance features gear and gadgets that soldiers from both sides took with them when they headed off to war.

Confident the whole affair would be a short and exciting adventure, both Yankees and Confederates believed they'd quickly defeat the enemy and return home within months as heroes.

"Many left home as if on a holiday camping trip," read a sign above a suit of body armor, a 50-piece picnic-like mess kit and a double spouted canteen. "Inventors and salesmen knew volunteers would spend money to be comfortable, but most of these gadgets turned out to be impractical and were sent home."

I was amazed how much I learned and wished I had more time at the museum, which includes interesting exhibits on golf legend Bobby Jones, Georgia folk art and the Swan House's architect, Shutze.

I didn't have time to see the Olympic museum, or Margaret Mitchell's house, and in winter the gardens are mostly barren.

But I was so impressed with what I saw of the history center, I'm sure the rest of it is equally educational.

And absorbing.

Next time I visit Atlanta, I plan to go back.

Atlanta History Center The center is located at 130 W. Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, and is open seven days a week. All inclusive general admission tickets to the museums, house tours and gardens are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors age 65 and older and for students ages 13 and older, and $10 for youths ages 4 to 12. Ages 3 and younger are free. A dual ticket that includes entrance to all history center attractions and the Margaret Mitchell house is $20 for adults, $16 for students and seniors, and $11 for youth ages 4 to 12. For more information, call (404) 814-4000.